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SIXTEEN
‘BABYDOLL’ ARI ABDUL
Luce
I’ve seen people bury their emotions, hoping they’ll just fade if they ignore them long enough. Hell, I’m one of those people, but as such, I know for a fact that it’s only through purging yourself of those heavy thoughts and feelings that you’ll begin to heal. Wearing a mask only lasts for so long. Am I being a wild as fuck hypocrite? Absolutely, but Lexi matters a shit ton more to me than I do; I can’t let her continue to hide her brokenness by trying to heal mine.
“I don’t know what you want me to say, Luce.”
I hop up on the counter beside her, patting the spot next to me before topping off her wine when she plants her luscious ass beside me.
“How about you start by telling me what Pink said to you.” I say it like I’m asking about her favorite color, but in reality, I’m itching to know if I need to add my own touch to the smile scar on his face or not. Lexi is one of - if not the - sweetest person on the fucking planet, so to see her pissed with someone the way she was with Pink is not only surprising, but it tells me the motherfucker stepped over one of her lines.
That shit isn’t going to fly with me.
She sighs, twirling the red wine in her glass like she’s weighing her words before speaking.
“In all honesty, he really didn’t say anything wrong, it was the undercurrent to his words. He made me feel like a fragile little woman.”
“First of all, you’re not a weak woman, and anyone who thinks that is a fuckhead with little to no brain cells. Secondly, who the fuck cares what that idiot thinks? He’s anobody, just muscle.”
She scoffs, rolling her eyes, “It doesn’t matter who he is, what his status is, or whether or not his opinions have any weight, Luce. He’s a man. Just like all of you, he thinks I’m already fractured and at the slightest mention of what I went through, I’ll shatter.”
My back straightens at that, my own temper rising slightly.Did she just lump me with all egotistical men?I don’t say anything right away, biting my tongue so I don’t speak like an ass and really prove her to be right. I think about everything I’ve done since having her back, all my actions around her and my words…fuck, is she right? I’ve treated her differently than before, that's for sure, but does she think it’s because I see her strength as less than my own? If she wants me to be straight with her, then fuck it, I will. I do believe Lexi is strong, and anyone who says otherwise will swallow their own teeth, but if Lexi needs me to prove it to her, then fuck it all cause I will.
“Listen, sweetness, I think you’ve got me all wrong. If you feel that I’ve been tip-toeing around you, treating you as I would antique–”
“Antique!?” She gasps, but I continue.
“–glass, that’s only because I actually give two fucks about you,and I don't know how else to treat you. Before you, the only other women I cared about were my mom and Max, and they're family… lumping me with the rest of the world’s men was a big mistake.”
I see her eyes tighten at my words, her pretty lips parting to say something, but I hold up my hand.
“Nah, buttercup, you said, and I motherfucking quote,” I mimic her voice, “‘He’s a man. Just like all of you, he thinks I’m already fractured…’”
I hop off the counter as she begins to speak, but again I interrupt her, “Now, if Pink pissed you off, go handle it like the strong woman Iknowyou are. Put the motherfucker in his place,” I lean in toward her, my nose touching hers, “because from where I’m standing, it’s only you who doesn’t truly see yourself as the queen you are.”
I grab her face and kiss her, dipping my tongue into her surprised mouth to taste her flavor, before pulling away just as fast.
“And fuck your no kissing bullshit, cause I want mine.”
I leave her stumped, her face still slack with shock as I turn the corner of the kitchen, but all my humor and joy I get from being around Lexi leaves the moment I’m out of her presence. Deep sorrow comes back ten-fold each time we separate, but I’m doing my best not to depend on her for reprievefrom this pain, but it's either this or I burn this whole city to the ground, so for now the choice is easily made.I can’t help it though, Lexi is my Percocet, my cocktail of antidepressants, and her street value is worth far more than the wads of cash I have stuffed in my safe.
I only find myself when I’m with her.
She’s my happy pill, and I’m her fiend.
I return to the table, finding all the guys in deep conversation about Alan and the latest news, the information shocking but not quite. I mean, who can really be shocked by anything that bastard does?
“She was found bound and gagged to a chair, the wordslittle dollcarved into her chest. She looked like Lexi.” Drake says before sliding images of the dead girl to Gio, “These are the CSI photos I was able to get from the director on the case. They’re calling Alan theDoll Killer.”
Gio looks over the picture, his fist clenching against the wooden tabletop, “Do they know it’s Alan behind the killing?”
Drake takes a sip from a flask before answering, “Killings,” he enunciates the plural on the word, “this isn’t the first one they’ve found. The day of the funeral there were two girls found bound and gagged in the same way, the same words on their chests. Their similarities to your woman were uncanny as well, and no, Alan’s identity hasn’t been revealed yet. I figured you’d want to decide that for yourselves.”
Gio nods his head, looking to Lexi, who dips her head down in agreement. Alan’s blood belongs to us.
“Were their families notified?” I asked through clenched teeth.
